Save the Dates (1st Run)

Technically this is my second run, but first OFFICIAL one since I actually needed to be able to use the save the dates that come out of this run. The very first run was just a sample run and I thought they were lousy, IMO, but my loving friends and fiance said they looked great (ehhhhh ;P)

Here is a pic of my work station: I lined it with some of that thin packing plastic that they wrap electronics with. hehe I have the roller set up in a jar of coins. On my sample run, I discovered that if I let the roller sit on the inked plexiglass, it's going to cause ink to peel off of the part where it sat (it could be the lousy ink, I heard that professional rubber ink is much more maleable and less fickle, oh well). I also taped the plexiglass down, which has made an enormous difference.

Tip to DIY-ers: Just suck it up and get the rubber based pound can of ink (where you'll probably end up with a lot leftover). Since I already bought my ink, I'm not going to give up on it.



Anyhoots, so Boxcar Press gave a few tips, one of which is to align bearings with your plate in order to ink evenly. So the picture below shows the strips that I used (strips that I requested to be included with the plate since they were just useless border strips that they would normally toss out but include for free upon request).


Conclusion: DID NOT WORK!! Through a series of inking and re-inking, I realized that I CANNOT use bearings, even if it means that it will come out uneven when I try to ink without. Reason being - and I did not know this - but the letters on my design are too fine and thus, I believe, my plate is microscopically lower than the border bearings itself - resulting in well inked bearings, but little to no ink on the actual plate. DOH!

Boxcar press says that you will likely never get a crisp print without bearers but I beg to differ. Out of twenty or so, I've gotten crisp inking on at least half and it's more about practice and patience if anything. Although it isn't CRISP throughout the design, my passing standard is that if the letters are crisp to the eye at an elbows length distance, they are ok to send. After all, it is DIY :P

Tip to DIY-ers: Make a bolder design. Mines is a little too "elegant," and it is starting to be become the bane of my existence. >.< Also, try not to have borders, borders make it so obvious when the alignment is slightly off. >.<

Here is me inking without the bearings - it took quite a few prints to get the pressure right, and it'll never be perfect but I think it'll be okay :)

Gauge pinning: Here, I am positioning the paper so it aligns with the plate properly. This part is actually pretty easy once you get it right the first time. Taping the press bed down, as instructed by Boxcar press, really helps too. Other than the first two or three times, I did not have any alignment issues.


Rolling it through, twice.
A wider view of my workstation. A bottle of goo-be-gone is my new best friend, along with some baby wipes.

A pic of some of the finished products. The pics aren't that good because of the lighting in my apartment and I haven't adjusted the camera properly. Good pics and more mistakes I've made will be forthcoming in later posts!


Thanks for reading!